World War II Database

Contributor: David Stubblebine

ww2dbaseIn Feb 1942, the shipyards of J. Samuel White on the Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom laid down a S-class destroyer as the HMS Success. While under construction in 1943, the ship was transferred to the Norwegian Government in Exile and renamed HNoMS Stord, after a large island in southwestern Norway. Stord was commissioned on 26 Aug 1943 with Lieutenant Commander Skule Storheill in command. LtCdr Storheill had previously commanded the destroyer escort HNoMS Eskdale, which was sunk in the English Channel 14 Apr 1943. Many of the Eskdale's surviving crew also became part of the Stord's crew.

ww2dbaseAfter a brief shakedown period, Stord began escort duties for convoys on the Arctic route. Almost right away in Dec 1943 the Stord was tested as she found herself in the middle of the Battle of the North Cape. During a coordinated flanking attack with British cruisers and destroyers, Captain Storheill pressed his attack against the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst by closing to within 400 yards before launching his torpedoes, scoring hits on Scharnhorst's starboard side.

ww2dbaseStord's actions were singled out for praise by Admiral Bruce Fraser, overall British commander in the engagement, who included in a message to the Admiralty, "Please convey to the C-in-C Norwegian Navy: Stord played a very daring role in the fight and I am very proud of her." The Captain of the British flagship, Duke of York, said, "The Norwegian destroyer Stord carried out the most daring attack of the whole action."

ww2dbaseStord continued with her Arctic convoy escort duties until May 1944 when she was chosen for an assignment in the upcoming Normandy operation off France. Stord was to be one of the escorts for British battleships Warspite and Ramillies and the cruiser Mauritius. Stord was also assigned, along with Royal Navy destroyer Scorpion, to bombard the Normandy town of Ouistreham ahead of the landings on Sword Beach and to provide naval gunfire support during assault. Later in the month, Stord engaged German ships trying to evacuate German forces out of Cherbourg.

ww2dbaseStord suffered minor damage off Cherbourg when a mine exploded near her stern that caused her to put into Portsmouth, England for repairs. Stord then resumed her Arctic convoy escort duties which occupied her through to the end of the war, except for another brief refit in Feb 1945 on the River Tyne in England.

ww2dbaseAfter Germany's surrender, Stord was among the ships assigned to intercept surrendering German U-Boats in the North Sea. Then in June 1945, Stord escorted British cruiser HMS Norfolk as Norfolk carried Norway's King Haakon VII back to Norway after five years in exile in the United Kingdom.

ww2dbaseIn 1946, the Norwegian government formally purchased the Stord and she served in the Norwegian Navy until 1959, when she was decommissioned and scrapped.

Destroyer Stord (G26) Interactive Map

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Stord Operational Timeline

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1.  Alan Chanter says:
20 Jul 2016 01:19:00 AM


The Royal Navy's 'S' Class destroyers were the first class to have 4.7-in guns with an improved 55-degree elevation. The pom-poms were retired oi favour of the effective twin 40-mm Bofors using the newly adopted Hazemeyer local radar control, the design of which came with Dutch destroyers that had fled the Netherlands in May 1940. Additionally the stock of depth charges was increased to seventy.